Early morning.
"You're here so early again, classmate."
Seeing that the newcomer was Mufeng Su, the school guard stepped out of the office while giving a big yawn.
Mufeng Su gave a polite nod and said, "Thank you."
"In all these years, you're the only one who always manages to arrive at school this early."
Upon arriving at the classroom, Mufeng Su had just taken his seat when he pulled a piping hot, freshly steamed white mantou out of his backpack. Pairing it with a flask of plain water brought from home, he began to flip through his books while savoring the fragrance of the mantou.
Luoyi Zhao had arrived at school unusually early today. After pondering for a long time last night, she had finally decided to bring breakfast for her deskmate.
Walking up to the classroom door, Luoyi Zhao peered inside and looked somewhat surprised to see Mufeng Su already sitting at his desk.
"Mufeng Su, why did you come so early?"
Hearing a voice that was unfamiliar yet strangely comforting, Mufeng Su turned his head and was surprised to see it was Luoyi Zhao.
*How could she be here so early?*
Without overthinking it, Mufeng Su simply smiled at her.
Luoyi Zhao walked over to her seat and blinked at him with a cute, playful look.
"Good morning, deskmate," Mufeng Su greeted her first.
With her sharp eye, Luoyi Zhao noticed he was still holding the unfinished mantou.
Seeing this, she put down her schoolbag, took out a box of stir-fried noodles, and handed it to him.
Mufeng Su was taken aback at first. Realizing the food was meant for him, he instinctively went to refuse.
Luoyi Zhao spoke a step ahead of him. "Don't overthink it. The uncle at the stall made way too much just now and packed it into two containers. There's no way I can finish all this by myself. Besides, just eating a mantou is so lacking in nutrition."
Luoyi Zhao explained with a blushing face.
Mufeng Su wasn't a fool, and precisely because of that, a wave of warmth surged through his heart.
"Thank you, Luoyi Zhao." Mufeng Su carefully accepted the box of noodles from her.
To his surprise, Luoyi Zhao looked displeased. Pouting her lips, she puffed up her cheeks and said to him, "Are we deskmates or not? Are we good friends or not? You keep calling me by my full name, it sounds so distant. From now on, you have to call me Luoyi."
Mufeng Su froze. Staring into Luoyi Zhao's eyes, he wore a look of utter disbelief.
The girl sitting across from him had crystal-clear, luminous eyes, so bright and pure that they made him lose himself for a moment.
Seeing Mufeng Su stare at her without moving a muscle, Luoyi Zhao's face instantly turned crimson, right down to the roots of her ears.
"Have you looked enough? You still haven't answered me." She lowered her head and turned away, not daring to meet his gaze any longer.
Mufeng Su finally snapped out of it. "Then... from now on, I'll call you Luoyi."
Feigning anger with a stern little face, Luoyi Zhao said, "Luoyi what? Just call me Luoyi, you hear me? If you get it wrong next time, I... I'll pinch you."
Mufeng Su nodded gently. "Got it, Lu... Luoyi." The moment the words left his mouth, his face suddenly flushed red, and he quickly turned his head away, not daring to look at her.
"That's more like it! Hurry up and eat, the noodles are going to get cold." With that, she pulled a carton of milk from her backpack and handed it over.
"Eating just stir-fried noodles is too dry. Drink this too."
"I have water, you drink it instead."
Mufeng Su instinctively tried to refuse Luoyi Zhao's kindness once more, pointing a finger at his faded, well-worn thermos cup.
"Do you know you'll get fat if you drink too much milk? If I had to drink two boxes all by myself, wouldn't I get ridiculously fat? So if I'm getting fat, I'm dragging you down with me. I won't be the only one getting chubby," Luoyi Zhao declared righteously.
As the two of them ate breakfast, students began trickling into the classroom one after another.
Yao Li caught a whiff of stir-fried noodles out of nowhere and, after scanning the room, finally spotted the two of them sitting in the back eating noodles and drinking milk.
She stared in amazement as she noticed they were eating from identical containers of stir-fried noodles and had matching cartons of milk on their desks. She couldn't help asking, "Did you two know each other beforehand? Did you come to school together this morning?"
Blushing deeply, Luoyi Zhao couldn't bring herself to answer. Faced with Yao Li's question, Mufeng Su explained, "No, we didn't. She said she bought stir-fried noodles this morning, but the vendor made too much and packed them separately. Since she couldn't finish it all, she had no choice but to give the other box to me."
Watching Mufeng Su explain with a straight face, Luoyi Zhao wished a crack would open in the floor so she could crawl right into it.
A trace of suspicion flickered across Yao Li's eyes. "Oh, so that's how it is." With that, she shot Luoyi Zhao a knowing, ambiguous look.
Things definitely weren't that simple.
Noticing that Mufeng Su's gaze was still lingering on her, Luoyi Zhao felt the blush on her face deepen even further, and she gave him a light nudge.
"Hurry up and eat your breakfast! You talk so much while eating, aren't you afraid of choking? Also, are you and Yao Li really that close?"
Luoyi Zhao hadn't even expected herself to ask such a question.
Mufeng Su shook his head. "Don't I still have the milk you gave me? Besides, I have water, so I won't choke. Also, well... Yao Li and I aren't particularly close, but we are classmates in the same class after all, so we exchange a few words now and then."
Just as Mufeng Su finished speaking, everyone in the classroom turned their heads to stare at them.
All the students heard was that Luoyi Zhao had brought Mufeng Su stir-fried noodles and milk; as for whatever was said afterward, none of that mattered anymore.
The boys looked at Mufeng Su's current treatment with incomparable envy. They would have loved to have stir-fried noodles and milk personally delivered by the school belle.
A wave of whispered discussion broke out across the classroom.
"There's definitely something fishy between these two. Based on my years of experience shipping couples, they must have known each other for a long time, and they're probably already dating."
"No way, they just met! Getting together this fast is way too quick."
Another girl chimed in, "Who says they just met? It's entirely possible they've known each other for ages and just happened to meet up again at this school..."
*You've been watching too many drama series,* Luoyi Zhao thought to herself.
At this point, Luoyi Zhao had no idea how to explain herself anymore, feeling utterly humiliated.
*Oh dear, there's still more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading, things get even more exciting ahead!*
Who told Mufeng Su to speak so loudly anyway?
"I can't show my face in public anymore! Mufeng Su, you're dead!"
Luoyi Zhao suddenly felt a tinge of regret. Because of this breakfast business, she had been pushed right to the peak of public gossip on just her second day after transferring schools.
Yet when she turned her head and saw Mufeng Su happily burying his head in his noodles with a satisfied look, a contented smile crept back onto her own face.
As for all those comments just now, Mufeng Su seemed completely unfazed and simply kept eating his noodles.
It had actually been quite a while since he last ate stir-fried noodles from a street vendor; he had almost forgotten what they tasted like.
For as long as he could remember, Mufeng Su had always brought his own breakfast to school.
In a voice so quiet only the two of them could hear, Mufeng Su told her, "Thank you, Luoyi. It's been a long time since I last had stir-fried noodles this good."
Her hearing those words sent Luoyi Zhao into deep thought. *A long time since he had stir-fried noodles?* Combined with the mantou she had seen in his hands earlier, a realization dawned on her.
*Could it be that he usually just eats a mantou with plain water every morning?*
*Is his family's financial situation...*
She looked closely at Mufeng Su's build again. Although he was quite tall, upon closer inspection, Mufeng Su was still on the slender side.
At this thought, Luoyi Zhao couldn't help feeling secretly grateful that she had brought him breakfast today.
"Now you know how great I am, right? You should consider yourself lucky to have a deskmate as wonderful as me."
Mufeng Su nodded woodenly.
Luoyi Zhao let out a sudden chuckle. "You really are such a dummy."
"Mufeng Su, Teacher Zhang is calling you to the office."
"Got it, I'll go right now."
Quickly slurping up the last mouthful of noodles, Mufeng Su asked, "Luoyi, are you finished eating? I can throw these out for you together; leaving them in the classroom will make the place smell."
"Oh, I'm done. Are you going to throw them away?"
"Yeah, give them here, I'll toss them out for you."
"Thanks."
Mufeng Su shook his head, then picked up the containers and left the classroom.
In truth, on his way there, he had already guessed what their head teacher wanted to talk to him about.
Inside the office.
Seeing that Mufeng Su had arrived, Yu Zhang got straight to the point.
"For this year's opening ceremony, you should be the student representative giving the speech again. All the teachers have complete confidence in you."
For some reason, Mufeng Su's mind was currently filled with the image of Luoyi Zhao's face, and he hadn't heard a single word of what the head teacher was saying.
Noticing that Mufeng Su seemed somewhat distracted, Yu Zhang asked with concern, "Have you been under too much study pressure lately? Didn't you sleep well last night? You can catch a nap right here; I'll excuse you from the next class so you can get some proper rest."
Not only was Mufeng Su an exceptional student, but he was also remarkably polite. Hardly any teacher didn't fondness him.
"Thank you, teacher, I'm fine. Um, I'll head back to the classroom to read." With that, he turned and left.
Just as he was about to re-enter the classroom, he noticed a crowd gathered around the doorway, as if something was going on inside.
Walking up to the entrance, he saw a boy holding an envelope—which looked unmistakably like a love letter—trying to hand it to Luoyi Zhao. Luoyi Zhao's expression was dark, clearly showing extreme displeasure.
The onlookers from other classes, treating it like a thrilling spectacle, were even egging them on and chanting for the two of them to get together.
Seeing this, Mufeng Su pushed through the crowd, tapped Zhou Qiang—who was in the middle of his confession—on the shoulder, and said, "You can leave now. Stop bothering my deskmate."
Interrupting his confession, Zhou Qiang turned around angrily, glaring at Mufeng Su with a hostile tone. "Who the hell are you? Who I confess to is none of your business!"
Mufeng Su's expression instantly darkened, looking as if he were about to snap—a complete departure from his usual self.
"Bothering my deskmate is my business. Now please leave." Mufeng Su restrained his emotions and said coldly.
The two of them stood at an impasse, looking as if they were about to throw punches at any second.
At that moment, Luoyi Zhao tugged at Mufeng Su's sleeve and said to Zhou Qiang, "First of all, I don't even know you. Secondly, there is even less chance I could ever like you. You can leave now."
Both guys froze in place.
"Oh, and please don't ever disturb me and my deskmate again."
Coming back to his senses, Zhou Qiang realized that with Luoyi Zhao putting it that way, it would be humiliating to stay any longer.
"I'm not giving up!"
"You just wait, kid!"
With that, he bumped his shoulder against Mufeng Su's in a show of intimidation and stalked out of the classroom.
After Zhou Qiang left, Luoyi Zhao puffed up her little face and complained, "What kind of weirdo is that? Coming to bother us first thing in the morning."
Then she noticed that Mufeng Su's expression was even gloomier than before, looking almost frightening.
"Are you upset about something? Did the head teacher tell you something that put you in a bad mood? You can tell me, you know—I'm your deskmate after all."
"Besides, I don't even know that Zhou Qiang guy. I totally despise him."
At this point, Mufeng Su realized his emotions had been a bit out of line just now, and he forced himself to look as calm as possible.
"It's nothing. I'm going back to reading."
After saying that, Luoyi Zhao felt a sudden wave of panic. *Why on earth did I feel the need to explain all that to him?*
After watching her quietly for a long moment, Mufeng Su couldn't help but point out, "Um, Luoyi, I think you're holding your book upside down." He gestured toward the English textbook in Luoyi Zhao's hands.
*I could just die of embarrassment! You're the one who caused me to lose face twice in one day.*
Luoyi Zhao suddenly whipped her head around to look at Mufeng Su.
"If you treat me to lunch today, I'll forgive you."
Mufeng Su looked slightly puzzled. "Forgive me for what?"
Luoyi Zhao put on a mock expression of anger.
"You're taking me out for lunch today, got it?"
Mufeng Su didn't say anything.
"Consider it payback for me bringing you breakfast."
She blinked her eyes, looking at him with a pitiful, puppy-dog expression.
"Alright, fine. We'll go get lunch together at noon, my treat."
"Yay!"